The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • To kill or not to kill?

    It is a debate as old as time itself. It is a sensitive issue because it involves life. Wherever the issue is being discussed, emotions run high because the discussants find it difficult to reach a consensus. It all has to do with capital punishment. Should condemned men be executed? Many will not blink an eye before saying yes they should be killed. Yet, there are others who frown on the death penalty.

    Those against death penalty believe that it is inhuman to take a life, no matter what the person might have done. These people are also quick to cite the Bible to strengthen their position. ‘’Thou shall not kill’’, they say, quoting the Bible. But the scripture is clear on the issue of killing. Even the Quran is also explicit on the matter.

    The two holy books draw a distinction between intentional and unintentional killings. They mince no words in their condemnation of intentional killing, which today may be likened to extra – judicial killing. Whoever kills another intentionally, the holy books say, should also be killed.

    Today, there is a raging debate in the land over the propriety or otherwise of capital punishment. The debate ensued over the execution of some condemned men a few weeks ago by the Edo State Government. The executed men had been found guilty of various offences by the court. Their execution followed a presidential directive that governors should no longer shy away from signing the death warrants of condemned men.

    Those against capital punishment say that despite its implementation, we still have cases of armed robbery, murder and related offences. So, they argue, why retain capital punishment when it has not deterred people from committing capital offences. We have been executing robbers as far back as the 1970s yet robbery has not ceased, they further argue. They may have a point, but the failure of a law to deter crime should not be an excuse for throwing away the baby and the bath water.

    If despite the so – called harsh punishment things are like this what will happen if the law is not in place. If the law is not there, things may be worst than they are now despite the human rights community’s misgiving about its effectiveness. Can we blame the laws ‘ineffectiveness’ on the upsurge of capital offences? What the human rights community seems to forget is that those with criminal tendencies will exhibit those traits no matter the ineffectiveness of the law in place. Human beings are very complex. Some express fear for the law, while others are ready to march on the face of the law. In that wise, should such people be allowed to go scot – free? What will become of the society if we allow such impunity?

    Nobody is happy seeing people tied to the stake and shot or put under the gallows, but for a safe, secure and saner society, these things must be done. When such happens, it is for the wise to draw a lesson from such episodes and refrain from things that could make them collide with the law. Execution as a form of punishment is to instil the fear of God in would – be criminals and also protect society. As the Americans would say, ‘’if you don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime’’. Those who kill or rob know the consequences of their action and that is death. Even the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. What greater sin can there be than to rob or kill?

    Armed robbery and murder, lest I forget, are not offences against the victims alone; they are also offences against the state. This is why the state and not the individual prosecutes for murder and armed robbery. It is because of the sensitive nature of these offences that the state takes up the matter itself in order to avoid a scene in court if the victim’s family decides to prosecute. If the victim’s family is allowed to prosecute, chances are that another murder may be committed in court. Those who kill deserve to be killed. Nobody should take human life and be allowed to live thereafter. What is he living for? If a murderer feels somebody is not worthy of life, he too should be denied the benefit of living.

    Society is the worse for it when people take the lives of others for no just reason. Must we look the other way when such barbaric acts are perpetrated? If we decide to do nothing on such occasions, we will be digging our own grave without knowing it because soon we will have a society of killers. Things have not become worse than they are now because of the law which provides capital punishment for such offences. As I have observed, nobody is happy seeing criminals executed, not even judges, but then, they have a job to do, no matter how unpalatable it may be.

    Perhaps, this was why Justice

    Chukwudifu Oputa, then of

    the Supreme Court, noted in a 1985 murder appeal involving Josiah versus the state: “Justice is not a one – way traffic. It is not justice for the appeallant only. Justice is not even only a two-way traffic. It is really a three – way traffic – justice for the appellant accused of a heinous crime of murder; justice for the victim, the murdered man, the deceased ‘whose blood is crying to heaven for vengeance and finally, justice for the society at large, the society whose social norms and values had been desecrated and broken by the criminal act complained of’’. If justice must serve all these purposes outlined by Justice Oputa, it means that those condemned for murder or armed robbery must pay the ultimate price for their dastardly act or else society risks being at the mercy of criminals. We cannot afford that. With due respect to rights activists, the right of a convicted killer to life ends at the point he is found guilty of the crime. For criminals to maintain their right to life, they must do away with acts that can deprive them of this God given right. If they know how to kill, they should be ready to know how to die when they are caught.

    Killed in their prime

    It was the last thing the public expected to hear in the wake of the emergency declared in the Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe because of the Boko Haram insurgency. Since emergency was declared in those states on May 14, there appears to have been a lull in the sect’s activities until last Saturday when people believed to be its members hit a secondary school, killing 20 pupils and a teacher. These innocent kids were asleep when the killers struck around 5.30 am. No matter what anybody says, this was a premeditated act carried out with the intention of having the maximum effect. Those kids did not deserve to die that way. These were children sent to school so that tomorrow they can stand on their own and contribute to the socio – economic development of our country. Their dreams have been killed and our parents’ plans for them shattered. It is a callous and barbaric act which no sane person could have engaged in no matter the provocation. The killers carried out the act fully aware of what they were doing. It was a planned and deliberate act to provoke the country at large. Boko Haram carried out this attack because in recent times, it has been losing the terrorism war. Since soldiers arrived in those states, they have succeeded in pushing the Boko Haram insurgents out. Many of its members have fled to neighbouring countries, while those still around no longer move about freely. Since they have been caged, as it were, they needed to make a statement that they were still a force to reckon with. So, they resorted to killing these innocent souls just to make a point. What a mindless act. For too long, Boko Haram has been killing people and getting away with it. This time around, they should not be allowed to get away with the murder of these children. We must pursue this group to the end of the earth if need be in order to make it pay for this killing. Anything short of this will further embolden these killers. Can those campaigning against capital punishment now see why the penalty should be retained for grave offences such as this. I invoke the spirits of these children not to rest until their killers are brought to justice.

  • One season, two strikes

    Among industrial unions in the country, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) pack a lot of weight. Whenever they call their members out on strike, the nation trembles because they have the power to paralyse socio-economic activities.

    Whenever they announce their intentions to go on strike, the public becomes worried. The source of their worry is not farfetched. It has to do with the disruption in academic and socio-economic life during such strikes. ASUU and NUPENG’s strikes are usually devastating. As for ASUU, its strike disrupts the academic calendar of public universities, while that of NUPENG makes life generally difficult and frustrating for the people.

    When ASUU is on strike as it is now, public universities are virtually shutdown because nothing works during the period. Students are left to do their own thing and in such a situation, an idle mind become the devil’s workshop. Many students have becomes wayward all because they had nobody to guide them during such periods. It is not that ASUU should not go on strike whenever there is a compelling need for it, but it should be mindful of the consequences of its action not only on the students but also on the larger society.

    ASUU’s ongoing strike has to do with the 2009 agreement it signed with the Federal Government on how to revitalise the universities. What is delaying the implementation of this agreement, some four years after it was signed? The Onosode panel is believed to have smoothened the rough edges of the agreerment in order to facilitate its implementation. If this is so, why are we still hearing about ASUU strike? The government should do the needful to stop this incessant ASUU strike.

    Thank God that NUPENG has called off its own strike. We tend to blame the union for resorting to strike at the least provocation. Is it proper to do so if we don’t do what is right in order to prevent the strike in the first place? NUPENG may be doing things in excess at times, but is the blame really the union’s going by the way we handle such cases? But two strikes by two powerful unions at the same time does not augur well for the economy.

    RE : Travails of a war hero

    no matter how people feel about Brig – Gen Benjamin Adekunle, what is for sure is that he cannot be ignored. Love him or hate him, the general commands a following not only among those who fought under him during the 1967 – 70 civil war, but also among the populace. Reactions were swift to the write – up on him last week. Many of the respondents wondered why the nation treats its heroes with such contempt. They submitted that a man like Adekunle should not be allowed to suffer considering his sacrifice and that of others to ‘’keep Nigeria one’’. Others have a different view of the matter. But no matter our positions, the fact remains that Adekunle discharged his duty diligently to his fatherland during the war. Nothing can detract from the fact that he was a soldier’s soldier. He may have his faults like other human beings, but we cannot hold that against him at this hour that he needs the help of the nation that he served with all his ‘’heart and might’’.

    Do not let us waste our time by calling on the army authority or the present ruling class, let us call on the one and only Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assist this hero of our time. I know that he has a large and will be ready to do it. I don’t know how to reach him, but please relay this important Save Our Soul (SOS) to him. From Adetunji Folayan, Oworonsoki, Lagos (08033920391).

    Gen Adekunle’s case is pathetic and shameful. May God almighty come to his rescue. From Sam Adamu, Port Harcourt (08085588490)

    I read about Gen Adekunle and how he dealt with my people… I honestly don’t know what to feel for him. Well, as a student I can’t do much for him. However, I wish him well. From Ngwu Chukwuebuka (08133931248).

    Indeed, the country awaits the response of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). I have today (June 27) again dropped another letter at the Army Headquarters in Abuja. I will not cease until the right thing is done. From Abiodun Adekunle (08067860987).

    Adekunle must not die. Should Gen Adekunle be left to die miserably, then Nigeria would have added a greater ‘’minus’’ to what Governor Fashola called empty ‘moral infrastructure’. I pray that, that does not happen. Where is is Gen Gowon while Gen Adekunle suffers? Where is Gen Obasanjo? Has he forgotten how Adekunle made victory easy for him towards the end of the war? Where is Gen Femi Williams while Gen Adekunle is in such a pathetic condition? Does he still remember what Adekunle did for him when he was wounded at the Owerri war front? Adekunle’s dynamic solutions to reviving the Nigerian Ports Authority cannot be forgotten. The slogan ‘’to keep Nigeria one’’ was the only tonic that propelled Adekunle to shell Biafra to submission. I will not beg anybody to look back at Adekunle , but those who have left undone what they should do, will suffer from the memory of what Adekunle went through before the capture of Calabar and Port Harcourt. From Pa Odutayo, (08023149828).

    Who were the enemies? If he did all that, please tell him to do it again. How come the people he fought for cannot send him to Ghana? Also tell him tyo prepare for the main war. :08097153657.

    Adekunle was not fighting his enemies, but only fought to unify the country. From Rev Emon, Jos (08060198831).

    I am a 63-year-old wounded military pensioner on monthly payment of N21,000, just like most of my colleagues dead or alive. In 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan announced a 53 percent increase in military pension, but till date, the increase has not been effected . My fellow Nigerian, you will agree with me that Nigeria is not worth fighting or dying for. From Iduwe Sunday (08069187363).

    Is it still a numbers’ game?

    Bravo, Jonah Jang, the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). If you don’t like that, then wait for the outcome of the case, which Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State instituted in court. If you don’t understand the position of First Lady, you can’t understand NGF’s position APC wants to use Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State against President Goodluck Jonathan and a focused Governor Jang, but we are wiser than him and his backers. 08055469972

    The First Lady is probably reacting the same way any woman would have reacted if her husband is being disrespected by someone junior to him no matter that person’s position. Your write – up would have carried more weight if you had been seen in the past condemning the governors talking down at the president. 0818884775.

    No, it is no longer a numbers’ game although 16 can be reversed to read and mean 19, thereby becoming ‘Jona Jang Theorem’. From Pa Odutayo (08023149828).

    We in Port Harcourt are ‘solidly’ behind President Jonathan. 08035450232.

    The year 2015 is by the corner, let us show them what failure is. 08054026170.

    A lion in winter

    Mandela is a transparent person. Because of his transparency, he was honoured by the United Kingdom. As a true leader, he left office after serving one term. If it is possible, Mandela should live forever, but then death is inevitable. From Sylvester, Libolo Edda, Ebonyi State (08179754774).

    Indeed, Mandela is a super man; an icon. From Charles Umeadi, Port Harcourt (08187104543).

    Can we ever get a man like Madiba? Everyday, I pray for him, forgetting my own challenges. 08072305653.

  • Travails of a war hero

    His name conjures fear. When many hear the name Benjamin Adekunle, they look behind their shoulders to see if he is coming. As the legend goes, Brig – Gen Benjamin Maja Adekunle aka Black Scorpion was a brave and ruthless soldier. Many heard the tales of his exploits during the 1967-70 civil war. Gen Adekunle’s fame grew during the war. As small as some of us were then, we heard how he handled the enemy and treated his soldiers who fell out of line.

    There was a myth surrounding Gen Adekunle. It was said that he could disappear and reappear to wreak havoc on enemy territory. Of course, many of the stories were embellished, but the people chose to believe them because they suited those times. People believed anything thrown at them so far the Nigerian side was winning the war. The Adekunle myth grew as he was said to be a soldier that the enemy could not touch because he wielded certain powers.

    The Adekunle myth followed him home after the war. Many wonder till today if he actually did all that people said he did during the war. The man is tough no doubt and he showed early in life that he is going to be a non-conformist. For a boy to run away from home at the age of nine to fend for himself is enough evidence that he will not allow people to trample upon him anyhow when he becomes an adult. This rebellious streak in him stalked him all the way. At military training schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and India; in the Nigerian Army; as aide-de- camp (ADC) to the former Eastern Region Premier, the late Sir Akanu Ibiam and at the war front, Gen Adekunle played by his own rules.

    But he could not be ignored by his bosses because, according to those who should know, he was a damn good soldier. The Black Scorpion fought the war as if his life depended on it. Those in his command remember him as a commander’s commander. Hear one of them, Brig – Gen Alabi Isama, who was Adekunle’s chief of staff during the war : ‘’What did these people (Adekunle and others) do wrong to the society? They went to the war and came back alive. But what did they get out of it? Nothing! Today, Adekunle is forgotten by the country. That is the hero of the civil war. He won all the battles…’’ Yes, as Gen Isama said, the Black Scorpion ‘’won all the battles but not the war’’.

    By that statement, Gen Isama was referring to the parlous condition of Gen. Adekunle, who is lying critically ill at home. Should a person in such a condition be kept at home? The answer is no, but the Black Scorpion is being treated at home because an air ambulance is not readily available to fly him to Ghana. When I read his story in last Saturday’s edition of this paper, I shook my head in belief that a thing like this is happening to someone of Adekunle’s calibre. No matter what some may consider as his eccentricities then, Gen Adekunle does not deserve to be treated as a nobody in this country.

    Our country owes a lot to people like him for fighting to ‘’keep Nigeria one’’. If they did not make that sacrifice, we may not be where we are today. The war in which he played a leading role ended 43 years ago, but it seems some people are still holding that against him. What could he have done to warrant being treated like this at the old, ripe age of 77. He was 77 yesterday. Happy birthday sir. But the best birthday gift we can give him as a country is to assist his family in getting him to Ghana fast for further treatment. All the family needs to do that is an air ambulance. The family says it has written to the army to assist in that regard without success. The army worldwide does not abandon its own. It rallies round its operatives and does everything to protect them.

    Where they are ill or wounded in battle, the army ensures that they get the best of treatment. And here, we are talking of Adekunle. Does he have to beg before he gets his right? This is the tragedy of our country. We treat our heroes with contempt and give looters of the treasury red carpet treatment, thereby sending a wrong signal to those coming behind. The Adekunle family seems to be at it’s wit’s end in its bid to get the authorities to help in flying its patriarch out of the country. Hear Abiodun, son of Gen. Adekunle : ‘’He is very weak and not in control of his memory. It is more of memory problem. He is not able to recognise people around him or anything. But, at some other times, he recognises people. So, it is an on and off thing. I have tried very hard to get the Nigerian Army to come to his aid without luck. Here is a man who spent his youth fighting a war to keep the country one. In other organised societies, he would be treated as a hero. But unfortunately, here in Nigeria, he has been forgotten by all’’.

    Let those in authority listen, whatever is done for the Black Scorpion today cannot be too much. As they say, he has paid his dues. Many, if not all in Service today, are his juniors. Will they watch and allow their superior to die all because of his family’s inability to get an air ambulance to fly him to Ghana? It is Gen Adekunle that we are talking about today, we don’t know what may happen tomorrow to those still in office. God forbid, if they become seriously ill after leaving office and help is not forthcoming as in the case of Gen Adekunle, how will they feel about their country? In Gen Adekunle’s present position, he cannot be happy that a country he fought to preserve seems to have abandoned him at his hour of utmost need.

    To those in authority, I com

    mend, Gen Isama’s re

    marks in this paper last Saturday. He said: ‘’Everybody is aware that he (Adekunle) is battling to stay alive. But, should we wait until he dies and then roll out the drums, shouting that he was a hero and start marching round the town? Every January 15, the whole country gathers to remember our fallen heroes. What about our living heroes?…As the Commander of the Third Marine Commando, he captured Calabar…he sent me to capture the whole place. We captured the whole of what is today known as Cross River State…So, Adekunle was our leader. But, unfortunately for him, he was not a thief like many of them. If he were a thief like many, his condition would not have been like this today. Can’t you see the others? Don’t you see where they live? Adekunle’s house was renovated by Ogbomoso people…Let this country rise and help this man to live a little longer in comfort because he has denied himself such comfort while fighting in the war. There was no commander of the Nigerian Army that is better than Adekunle. Why should he be the worse off today?’’

    Indeed, Adekunle or any other retired officer for that matter should not beg for bread. They should not be made to see their service to the country as a curse after retirement otherwise we may start breeding officers, who will be more interested in making money rather than serving the country.

    There is still room to make amends in Adekunle’s case; it is not too late to do that. The country awaits the Chief of Army Staff’s prompt response to this matter. Whatever he does, he should remember, he will be doing for a senior colleague and only God repays such a kind gesture.

  • Is it still a numbers’ game?

    In politics, you must be popular to get people to your side. Politics is all about people. It is people that play politics; it is also people that vote in elections. Without people, there is no politics and without politics, there may be no government. In essence, democracy is a derivative of politics.

    This is why democracy is defined as government of the people by the people for the people. So people, politics and democracy are inseparable. The way we play politics in our country is a matter of concern because it goes against the grain of what is obtained elsewhere. In our own democracy, we do things upside down in order to win elections at all costs. Our politicians hate to lose an election. To them, they must win every contest come what may.

    Now, election is a contest of numbers. The winner is usually the person with the highest number of votes. In every democracy, that is the norm. The reverse is the case here. The winners of our elections are not those with the highest number of votes, but those with the lowest score. Did I hear you sigh heavily? Don’t be shocked. What else can one say about our politicians’ attitude to elections, which they treat as do – or – die? They go into every election with a mindset that they must win and in case they lose, they do everything to reverse the outcome or get it annulled if they don’t have their way.

    In the present dispensation, certain persons should be the leading lights of democracy, but what do we have? They are the opposite of the special status their positions confer on them. I am talking of some of our governors who want to bring the country down simply because of who leads them. The governors, for the first time in the history of their 14 – year old Forum, went to the poll last month to elect a chairman. In the past, it was done by consensus and whoever was picked, the others simply followed him as their leader.

    But like everything Nigerian, highwire politics crept into the simple matter of who becomes the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) chairman after the expiration of the first term of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi last month. Why did this become an issue, you may want to ask? It became an issue because the Presidency thought Amaechi was nursing presidential ambition. Now, if you ask me, that is not a sin. But to the supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan, it is a mortal sin. To them, anybody nursing presidential ambition apart from Jonathan, should be crucified. This is what they want to do to Amaechi.

    They went all out to stop him from returning as NGF chair, but the governors stood their ground that Amaechi remains their man. In an apparent move to stop him from retaining the job, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the largest number of members in the group, formed the PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF). The party’s calculation was that with its 23 governors in the Forum, it could easily have its way on any issue, including who becomes the chairman, once the caucus, which is what the PDPGF is, so decides. Its calculations failed because it didn’t reckon with its governors’ resolve to swim or sink with Amaechi.

    The party thought that through the Presidency, it could browbeat the governors to dump Amaechi and create an easy passage for the anointed Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang to become NGF chair. A month before the election, they were made to sign a document backing Jang for NGF chair. Nineteen of them signed that document, but last month when the election took place, only 16 voted for Jang. The 19 ‘votes’ that were prerecorded for Jang became the number of votes that did the magic for Amaechi. Do you see how Providence works? The election was held on May 24, but since then, the nation has known no peace and the Presidency is not helping matters.

    Rather than weigh in on the matter on the side of justice, the Presidency is bent on dealing with Amaechi. The governors, as it were, have spoken with one voice that Amaechi is their chairman, but the Presidency does not agree with them. Despite its initial denials, it is now obvious that the Presidency wants to kill the NGF all because of its ‘’problem’’ with Amaechi. When on May 25 the papers reported that Amaechi floored Jonathan in the NGF election, the Presidency did not take kindly to the report. It issued a statement that since Jonathan did not contest the election, there was no way Amaechi could have defeated him. Yes, Jonathan did not contest the election in person, but he did so through his proxy, Jang.

    Latter day events showed

    where the president’s heart

    lies in this matter. At a Family Dinner he hosted to mark Democracy Day in Abuja on May 29, Jonathan, in his introductory remarks, recognised Jang as NGF chair. The president referred to Jang as ‘’the chairman of the NGF’’. That was all Jang needed to dig deeper as ‘chairman’ of the Forum, knowing full well that he did not win the May 24 election. From his attitude, the president is up to something, but he should be careful not to bring the country down in his desperate bid to cling to power beyond 2015.

    I am not against his seeking reelection if he so wishes as he has the constitutional right to do so, but what I detest is the sly manner he is going about it. He told us he wanted to face governance, but is he doing that today with all these problems staring us in the face right, left and centre? There is crisis in his party, all because of his 2015 ambition; the governors are at war, all because of him and we have security challenge, all because the man at the helm does not seem to know what to do.

    Come to think of it, is Jonathan really the man we need in 2015? With his performance so far, he should go home and rest after 2015. I don’t see him doing that though because of the many political jobbers who are pressing him to seek reelection. Well, let him try his luck again, after all his name is Goodluck, but he should let the election be free and fair just like last month’s NGF election. And that is my fear, will he not reject the result as his anointed candidate Jang is doing after losing the NGF election?

    When Dame came to town

    I still remember. Those days when former Head of State Gen Yakubu Gowon and his wife, Victoria, were passing by, we used to line the streets to joyfully wave at them and they, in turn, acknowledged our greetings with smiles. These days, it is not so. When President Goodluck Jonathan or his wife, Dame Patience is coming to town, the people always panic. You know why? Because the whole place will be, to use the popular American phrase, locked down. There will be no vehicular or human movement because the president or his wife is around. If we understand that of the president, what can we say of his wife? Must the airspace or road be closed because of the First Lady’s movement? The people do not think so, but our leaders will not accept that. About two months ago, Dame was in Lagos and the metropolis was shut down as people were held in traffic for hours. Some even spent virtually the whole day sweating and cursing in traffic.

    Last week, Port Harcourt in Rivers State went through the same thing because Dame came for a wedding in her home state. Both ends of the street where her house is were blocked. Residents went through hell accessing their homes. Motorists could not drive past easily as heavily armed policemen stood menacingly on the road. Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who she took to the cleaners on Saturday at the wedding reception, also could not go out. Just imagine, a governor being treated like a commoner! If that is not a show of power, please tell me what it is. But what kind of power show is this, that brings nothing but suffering to the people? that is my fear, will he not reject the result as his anointed Jang is doing after losing the NGF election?How long will we continue to suffer like this? How long? We see how presidents and their wives move in other countries without treating their compatriots like nonentities.

  • A lion in winter

    By the time Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he had become a legend, a status he attained by his dogged fight against apartheid. To become a legend while alive is no mean feat. Only a few people are so labelled in their lifetime and it derives from their exploits, crusades or struggles. These exploits are not for their own personal gain but for the collective good of the people.

    Many of us are familiar with the story of South Africa, a richly endowed country where the Whites settled and never wanted to leave. The minority White in South Africa turned themselves to tin gods and resorted to suppressing the Blacks, the owners of the land. For years, the Blacks were made slaves in their own land. They lived in slums, while the Whites stayed in posh houses. Everything about life and living were skewed against the Blacks.

    It was just a matter of time before something gave in such a society where people were born into struggle. From the cradle, a black South African child had to fight for his rights and other basic necessities of life which his counterparts in other parts of the world took for granted. Blacks fought for their right to life; right of association; right to education; right of worship, you name it. They could not enter certain places because they were designated for Whites only. Some bars, schools and residential areas were closed to them. It was so bad. One had to be a Tom Quisling to access such places.

    It was hell on earth being a black South African because they were treated as sub-human. In no time, the people learnt to fight and fend for themselves in defiance of their tormentors. The Whites made the Blacks to become freedom fighters, a trait which is being passed to the younger generation today. The Mandela generation did the spade work for their offspring, who today are also no pushovers when it comes to standing up for their rights. The struggle, it seems, is in their genes.

    ‘’The struggle’’, Mandela says, ‘’is my life’’. Indeed, for the nonagenarian, it has been a lifelong struggle. Even at the ripe old age of 94, Madiba is still struggling, but mercifully not of the hue of the apartheid era. The lion is today struggling for life. If Mandela goes today,something which many of us do not pray for, he would not have died in vain. The outpouring of emotions since he was hospitalised on Saturday shows that he is a man well loved. How many of our leaders today will enjoy this kind of sentiment if they were in Mandela’s shoes?

    I cannot really point at any. Instead of a show of love and concern, the people will be cursing and wishing them dead by now. Isn’t there a lesson in this for them? There is, but will they ever learn? It troubles the hearts of many to see Mandela weighed down by a persisting lung infection. A man, who in his heyday was a Trojan, who looked even the most fearsome of men in the face, lays bedridden in hospital, battling for life.

    Mandela is a fighter; his fighting spirit saw him through his 27 years in prison under harsh conditions from which he probably might have contracted this lung problem. This is not an obituary on Madiba but an ode to a man among men; a man of character and principle, who has shown the world that it is better to wage peace than war. Mandela may be fighting for his life today, but we will forever remember his struggles against injustice not only in his home country but also in other parts of the world.

    The African National Congress (ANC) on which platform he was elected South Africa’s president in 1994 was founded in 1912, six years after his birth in 1918. Mandela was not among the founding fathers of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), which transformed into ANC in 1923. He and people of like minds like the late Walter Sisulu and the late Oliver Thambo joined the ANC in 1944. Mandela, a lawyer, was destined to become not only ANC but South Africa’s leader. His imprisonment for life for treason on June 12 (that date again!) 1964, was to prepare him for the task ahead.

    When he became president four years after his release from jail, he showed that he had learnt a lot about life. If Mandela went to prison a bitter man, he came out as an apostle of peace. There was no bitterness over his persecution for all those years. The fighter had transformed in prison, though the fire still burned in him; the fire to make every South African feel at home in his country, no matter his colour or creed. This has been Mandela’s mission since he left prison 23 years ago at 71.

    No wonder this man of

    peace jointly won the

    Nobel Peace prize with F.W de Klerk in 1993, three years after he regained his freedom from prison. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela may be down today as a result of age, but his lights are not yet out and we pray that they will not go out soon. But if they do, the world will remember him for good because he taught us how to forgive even though we may not forget. Contrary to what many thought of him in the days of the struggle that he loves ‘trouble’ because his middle name, Rolihlahla means “trouble maker”, the circumstances of the time shaped the man.

    How many in his shoes would have stood by and watch their people being oppressed by a minority group all because it has the means to do so. Thank God, the man has put that behind him. As he struggles on his hospital bed for life, we pray that he pulls through because we still need him around as a father figure. ‘’I can rest only for a moment for with freedom comes responsibilities and I dare not linger for my walk is not yet ended’’, Madiba said in his classic book: Long Walk to Freedom. Madiba, your walk has not yet ended because we don’t want you to go now. It is not time to say goodnight.

    But if the Lord says otherwise, who are we to question Him. If that happens, we all know that ‘’you have fought a good fight; you have finished the course and you have kept the faith” and the good Lord shall reward you accordingly for showing the light for the world to follow. Get well soon, Madiba.

    June 12, 20 years on

    Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Bashorun M.K.O Abiola. It is certain that as long as Nigeria remains in existence, the June 12 saga will never be forgotten until we do what is necessary in memory of this democratic icon. The democracy we enjoy today was brought about by Abiola’s sacrifice. If Abiola had not laid down his life in the struggle to actualise his mandate, chances are that we will still be under military rule. Abiola died so that democracy will thrive. Even though, former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to recognise his late kinsman for his democratic efforts, it is not too late for the government of the day to give honour to whom honour is due. Let us put behind us last year’s fiasco in naming the University of Lagos after him and look for a more enduring way to honour him. By so doing, we will be sending a message across to our compatriots to always stand up and fight for their rights no matter what they go through. If we don’t honour Abiola now, it will look like he died in vain. No, this should not be the lot of a man, who left his large family and chains of businesses to seek an improvement in the welfare of the masses. His campaign slogan was ‘’farewell to poverty’’, I am sure that if his election had not been annulled, we would have sung the nunc dimitis of lack and want by now. Is it not an irony that the businesses and the home that this man, who wanted the best for the poor of his country, left behind are being made to suffer today? Most of the businesses have even collapsed all because he is no longer around. And the battalions who depended on him have been abandoned. Abiola may be dead, but his legacies will endure because he was a man with a large heart. He touched lives. This is why in death, he has become larger than life. Nigeria is the worst for his death

  • A judge’s parting shot

    At a time like this, it is easy to overlook certain issues in the polity. This may not be deliberate though; it may be caused by the importance attached to the unfolding events. In the past few weeks, things have been happening at a frenetic pace, especially on the political scene. The biggest political event so far is the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) election and its fall-out. Since that May 24 election, the NGF has not been the same.

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was returned as chairman of the Forum, but his Plateau State counterpart Da Jonah Jang is contesting that. As a father, which his prefix, Da, stands for, Jang does not seem to be fatherly in his disposition on this matter. As one of the elderly governors in the Forum, Jang should be seen promoting peace and good conduct and not what can divide the Forum. He has the right to be the chairman of NGF, but the question he should answer honestly and truthfully is did win the May 24 election?

    Although, he claimed to have won, but the figures say otherwise. According to the poll, Amaechi won by 19 votes to Jang’s 16. It is quite disturbing that an election among 35 governors, who were at the May 24 meeting, would become this messy. It is more worrisome that those who should be the embodiment of democracy are the ones working against the outcome of a free and fair election. What example are they trying to set? From the look of things, the parties are not ready to sheathe their swords. Another domineering political event was the Obasanjo stinker on the capability of President Goodluck Jonathan to run the country. On the social plane, we have the ongoing military onslaught against Boko Haram; the series of kidnapping and robbery.

    When events happen at dizzying pace like this, it is possible to miss out on some of the actions and one of such events was the parting shot of a former judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Okechukwu Okeke. Justice Okeke bowed out of the Bench last month on attaining the retirement age of 65. About 13 days to his retirement on May 19, he got a letter from the National Judicial Council (NJC), reprimanding him for alleged misconduct. He was ‘’seriously warned’’ because he was on his way out of service. If he was not about to retire, chances are that he might have been suspended or recommended for retirement for ‘no just reason’ as we have now been made to know by Justice Okeke.

    When the NJC took its decision, Justice Okeke could not talk because he was still in service eventhough he was not happy with the action. He burned with rage in silence because of the ‘injustice’ done him. Justice Okeke felt the NJC was not fair to him, but he could not go to court to seek justice because he is a judge, which must bear whatever is thrown at him, whether true or false in silence. Let’s face it, many of us do or say things against judges which are not true and get away with it because by virtue of their jobs they are to be seen and not to be heard. By so doing, we tend to forget that these judges are human. All we need do is to put ourselves in their position and see how it feels when people malign us at will and we are unable to fight back.

    With their hands tied by the nature of their jobs, many judges suffer in silence for things they didn’t do.If we the unlearned, and I used that word advisedly, can make wild allegations against ‘’learned judges’’, what do we say when learned brother – judges make such allegations against each other. Dogs, we are told, don’t eat dogs, but in some cases, judges have been known to sacrifice their learned fellow judges where such judges refuse to do their bidding. In most cases, such bidding is to pervert justice. A judge, no matter his relationship with parties in a matter before him, is expected to uphold the scale of justice.

    The scale of justice is a blindfolded lady wielding a sword within a dangling pendulum. What this means is that a judge must be blind to the parties before him to be able to do justice with the sword. The sword will be applied on the offending party no matter how powerful; influential or connected he may be. A judge is expected to be blind to a fellow judge if that judge has a case before his learned brother in order to be fair to the other party. But in our society where anything goes, our judges seem to find it difficult to uphold justice without fear or favour; affection or illwill as demanded by their oath. Why? Because of extraneous matters.

    The truth is a judge who cannot look his own wife or son in the eye and do justice is not fit to be on the Bench. If a judge’s wife or son commits a crime and she or he is brought before His Lordship, the best he can do is to recuse(excuse) himself from the matter rather than break his oath for his family’s sake. If judges are not expected to break their oath for their families, can they do so for their fellow judges, whether senior or junior to them? The answer is no. If that be the case, why then did former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Alloysius Katsina-Alu allegedly ask suspended Court of Appeal President Justice Ayo Salami to influence the judgment on the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Appeal case? Justice Salami refused.

    Justice Katsina-Alu as then NJC chairman used his privileged position to get Justice Salami suspended and the learned justice is suffering from that injustice till today. Justice Okeke may have met with the same fate if he was not due to retire last month. He got away with a warning, but the decision irked him because he felt he didn’t do anything to warrant it. This made him to spill the beans at the valedictory session for him in Lagos on May 27. Justice Okeke claimed that he got into trouble because of his handling of a case involving the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and former Oceanic Bank Managing Director Mrs Cecilia Ibru. An order he granted in the case affected a daughter of Supreme Court Justice Clara Bata-Ogunbiyi.

    He claimed he was informed

    by the Chief Judge of the

    Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, that Justice Bata-Ogunbiyi was not happy with him over the order. The justice later sent her daughter to see him over the matter, he said, adding that he informed her to file the necessary papers if she was not satisfied with the ruling which led to her ejection from her Ikoyi, Lagos home. This, he claimed, informed one of the petitions against him before the NJC. He said he responded to the petition and challenged the NJC to publish his reaction. The NJC has not taken up Justice Okeke’s challenge. Rather the Council is behaving as if all is well. All is not well at all.

    The NJC owes it a duty to clear the air over this matter. Did Justice Bata-Ogunbiyi try to influence Justice Okeke to pervert justice as he alleged? Was Justice Bata-Ogunbiyi invited by the NJC to react to Justice Okeke’s allegations? Was she investigated by the NJC in order to verify Justice Okeke’s claim? If she wasn’t, why did NJC overlook the matter? Is it that Justice Bata-Ogunbiyi is above the law? Can Justice Okeke’s response be made public for all to see? If CJN Mariam Muktar Aloma is serious about her ongoing reform of the judiciary, this should be a test case for her. Justice Okeke is willing and ready to talk (or is it testify?) on the matter because he believes he has been wronged. He wants justice and the only way he can get that is to reopen this case and let the parties appear before the NJC. Anything short of this will amount to sweeping the matter under the matter.

    As for what the Supreme Court Chief Registrar Sunday Olorundahunsi said in response to Justice Okeke’s allegations, the man should know that this does not involve the apex court per se. It is an issue between two individuals, Her Ladyship and Justice Okeke, so he should let them sort things out on their own terms. When the court is attacked, Olorundahunsi can speak for it. But in Okeke versus Her Ladyship, he cannot speak for the justice except if she hires him as her lawyer. I rest my case.

  • The Amaechi saga

    The Amaechi saga

    In the last one week, the country has been on edge over a minor election. Yes minor, in the sense that it involved a few people. Just 35 persons went to the polls and all hell was let loose over the outcome some minutes later. The row, which is yet to subside, led to the suspension of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) four days ago. The countdown to the election was as interesting as what happened during and after the exercise.

    Amaechi was the man to beat in the election and everything was done by the powers that be to incapacitate him before the race.

    Long before his tenure as chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) lapsed on May 24, there were moves to ensure that he did not return to the post. Before now, the governors conducted the Forum’s affairs without let or hindrance from the Presidency. The Forum served as a club for the governors where they could gather not only to discuss the problems of their states but also of the country. After all, they are also Nigerians.

    In their meetings, it is possible that they might have also broached other issues, such as the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which the central government may not be comfortable with. With the PDP also having the highest number of governors in the NGF, the party leadership would have wondered why the Forum is giving its government a hard time. To the PDP, the NGF should be a rubberstamp body, which should take anything that the Federal Government throws at it hook, line and sinker.

    The party does not believe that the NGF should be independent. What independence are we talking about when we are in power? the party may have wondered, forgetting that the Forum is a club of equals, with the chairman as the first among equals. This does not, however, make him superior to his colleagues. As the head, the chairman should tread a bit gingerly so that he is not seen as using his position to promote his party’s ideals and programmes. He occupies a delicate position and he must be able to strike a balance between his job and his party’s expectations.

    Most importantly, he must not be perceived by his colleagues as treating them as second fiddle, all because they made him their chairman. Yes, they made him chairman and can remove him if they think he is using his office to pursue selfish interest. Amaechi is not the first NGF chairman, but he is the first to come under this kind of fire all because some people suspect that he is using his position to promote his political ambition. These people believe that he is interested in the 2015 presidential election.

    As I have argued in this space in the past, I don’t see anything wrong if he has such ambition. But the man has consistently denied nursing such ambition, yet they do not believe him. Amaechi’s travails began almost a year ago, if not even earlier. Before those with plans to do him in started planting his posters and those of his Jigawa State counterpart, Sule Lamido, on the streets of Abuja and some other states in the North, Amaechi had a run in with the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, an Okrika, over the demolition of the Port Harcourt waterfront, said to be populated by her kinsmen.

    The waterfront is not being demolished for the fun of it. The governor says his intention is to create the Greater Port Harcourt City from the rubbles of the water front. Must we play politics with development? The answer should be no, but those in Abuja do not see it as such. Months later, the real reason why the First Lady took on Amaechi emerged when Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godsday Orubebe accused him of using his position as NGF chair to attack Jonathan. What Orubebe saw as Amaechi’s attack on the president was the governor’s principled stand on the Forum’s opposition to the ECA and SWF. To people like Orubebe, Amaechi is using the Forum to feather his political nest and so must be stopped, at all cost, from getting a second term.

    Indeed, everything was done to stop Amaechi from returning as NGF’s chair last Friday. The Presidency, which is today denying having any interest in who becomes NGF chair, was involved in the stop – Amaechi – plot when PDP governors were invited to a meeting at the Villa in March. At that meeting, the president made it clear that he could no longer work with Amaechi as NGF chair. He directed the governors to pick another person among them to lead the group. It was at that meeting that the PDP Governors Forum was born. Its mandate, among others, was to search for a ‘suitable’ candidate for the NGF chair.

    The president was said to have settled for Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State. Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State later joined the race, barely 36 hours to the election, indicating that the anti-Amaechi group still had a lot of homework to do. It became glaring that the group had not got its act together when Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang entered the race, four hours to the election. How can a man win an election that he stood for some hours to voting? What magic did Jang think he could perform in four hours to defeat Amaechi, who had prepared well and long for the race? Except, of course, if he was relying on other means of winning.

    What is happening in NGF

    today is not good for our

    fledgling democracy and it is sad that those who should grow it are the ones working against its growth. What is it about being NGF chair that our leaders want to turn the country upside down for? Why have we turned the issue to a matter of life and death? There is no point in overheating the polity over an election as minor as this when we have the major one coming up in two years. How prepared are we for that election when we cannot conduct a simple election among 36 governors just to pick their chairman?

    If governors cannot hold free and fair election among themselves, how are we sure that those entitled to a second term among them will ensure transparency of the process in 2015? It is sad that our governors are behaving like this; what lesson are they imparting to their followers? Telling them to go and rig in 2015, come what may? Let this shenanigan stop now because no man locks horns with a man whose name, Amaechi means ‘’who knows tomorrow?’’ and wins.

    NG, one year after

    How time flies. It is one year since we lost Ngozi Agbo, our former Campus Life editor. NG was down to earth and always wore a smile, even when annoyed. She was such a lovely and pleasant person. Hardly will you know that she was in the newsroom whenever she was around because she concentrated on her work. She sat at her corner quietly working on the stories of her mentees (the budding journalists) in our various higher institutions, who are the contributors to Campus Life. Campus Life was NG’s baby and she treated all the student-contributors as her children. She called them “my boys and girls”. She was a mother hen who took her brood under her protective feathers. My dear sister, you did a good job. When I look at Wale Ajetunmobi, who now coordinates Campus Life, and Hannah Ojo, I see the marvellous job you did in grooming them. I almost wept when I read their pieces on you (see the Campus Life section). Your husband, Agbo, is keeping the flag flying, running the column which you stopped writing on May 28, last year. And your boy too is doing wonderfully well. I saw his picture on his dad’s phone the other day. NG, continue to rest in the Lord’s bosom.

     

  • Winning the terror war

    Winning the terror war

    Since the declaration of a state of emergency in the Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe last Thursday, a lot of water, as they say, has passed under the bridge. The power equation seems to have changed with the tide turning against the perpetrators of violence. By perpetrators, I mean the Boko Haram elements, who had until the coming of emergency rule turned that part of the country to a killing field.

    The killings have not stopped though, but Boko Haram is no longer having the upper hand. The sect has met its match in the special forces deployed in those states in the wake of emergency rule. Before the declaration of emergency, Boko Haram held sway virtually everywhere in the North, killing, maiming and looting. The sect ran rings round Borno and Yobe states, especially. At the height of its madness, it appeared it was untouchable.

    That was where the sect got it all wrong. Because the government did not want to match force with force then, Boko Haram saw itself as unstoppable and those who could intervene did not help matters with their undue silence. Despite entreaties from the government and many concerned people that they should talk to the sect to let reason prevail, they failed to take up the job. The feeling many had was that they were happy with what Boko Haram was doing.

    This was the political thinking in many quarters, especially in the Southsouth, where President Goodluck Jonathan hails from. It became a we versus them thing. This was the dangerous dimension the Boko Haram insurgency was taken then. The core leadership of the North deigned from lifting a finger to stop the sect, pretending that it didn’t know those behind the group. That was a ruse. The northern leaders, at least, some of them knew the brains behind this deadly group, but for their own safety, they kept a safe distance.

    In choosing self above country, they allowed evil to thrive. Boko Haram is evil, no matter how you look at the matter. The sect never came up to tell the world its grievances it just woke up one day and unleashed terror on the country. Granted that a grave mistake was made in the killing of its leader, Yusuf Muhammed, by security agencies in 2009, but does that make its bombing of churches; invasion of prisons; kidnapping of people and robbing of banks justifiable? Two wrongs, they say, do not make a right. The sect has spoilt a good case by its resort to violence. A man, the law says, cannot be a judge in his own case.

    With what has been happening since the massive deployment of troops in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, Boko Haram now knows that it has no monopoly of violence. The military has not given the sect a breathing space since it entered those states. It has been making things hot for the group. This emergency may turn out to be a blessing at the end of the day. If not for it, we will still be at the sect’s mercy, but now the group is on the run with its tail between its legs. Between last Wednesday and today, it has lost so many of its members and this is just the beginning of the battle. The war is yet to start.

    I am not gloating over the fate of Boko Haram; no far from it. The sect got itself into this bind and it is also the only one that can free itself from it. The best thing for it to do in the present circumstance is to lay down its arms. It is time for Boko Haram to surrender if it does not wish to continue to suffer a loss. There is no way it can take on the military and win. After over four years of being allowed to do whatever it wanted, the party, I am sorry to say, is over for Boko Haram. Let it lay down its arms now so that the nation can begin the grim task of rebuilding all the states, particularly Borno, which it destroyed in its madness.

     

    The rice cartel

    Despite all efforts to curb it, rice smuggling is still thriving. It is thriving because those in the business have devised ways of passing through our porous land borders. And then, they enjoy the support and cooperation of the border guards, that is the Customs and Immigration. Let’s face it, if these paramilitary agencies are up and doing, rice smugglers would have been run out of business by now.

    But because they benefit from this illicit trade, they have shut their eyes to what the smugglers are doing. Unfortunately, the country is at the receiving end. We are losing a lot of revenue, which could have helped in the growth of our gross domestic product (GDP), to rice smuggling. Today, the country, according to reports, is losing about N9.7billion monthly to this illegal business. The amount is the cost of 80,000 metric tonnes (MTS) or 1.6 million bags of rice smuggled into the country. This means that in a year, the country loses N116.4billion just on rice smuggled into the country through Benin Republic.

    The smugglers make use of different routes to bring in the commodity. In the North, they are said to come in from Niger and Cameroon through the Maradi and Zinder borders. In the Southwest, they come in through Seme, Ajilete and Shaki from the Benin axis. These routes are also used to smuggle cars. The ban on rice has been rendered meaningless by this thriving illegal trade. How can the government achieve its plan for the country to be self-sufficient in rice production by 2015 when its efforts are being thwarted by these heartless smugglers?

    These smugglers do not have the love of their country at heart. If they do, they will not engage in activities that will rob the country of revenue that can boost the GDP. They have by their actions turned themselves to economic saboteurs and they should be so treated when caught. No country folds its arms and watches when unscrupulous people come together under the guise of doing business to rob it of revenue. If we really mean to diversify our mono-economy so that we will no longer rely only on oil as a major revenue earner everything must be done to stop these smugglers before they destroy the economy.

    If they are genuine businessmen, they will not evade the payment of the 110 percent duty on the commodity. A few weeks ago, a vessel carrying 22,750 MTS of rice was said to have moved to Cotonou, Benin Republic, to offload in order to evade the payment of N2.6billion duty on the commodity. Why did the importer do that when Beninois do not consume long grain parboiled rice as we do in Nigeria? He did it to evade payment of the N2.6billion duty since he knew he could use a fraction of the sum to bribe Customs and Immigration and also pay some smugglers to get the commodity in through the borders.

    If things continue like this, Nigeria will continue to be the loser, while smugglers will be smiling to the bank. Government should move fast to stop this illicit trade before much damage is done to the economy.

     

    Let the Rhodes-Vivours go

    Mother and daughter were kidnapped on May 10 and since then, nothing has been heard about them. Nobody knows where they are being held by their abductors, who are said to have demanded a N200million or N300million ransom. I am talking about Mrs Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour and her daughter who were kidnapped on their way to Benin, Edo State 13 days ago. They are the wife and daughter of Supreme Court Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour. The police are on the trail of the kidnappers, who are believed to be somewhere in the thick forest between Ondo and Ekitii states. The Rhodes-Vivour family has been through a lot in the hands of kidnappers. Justice Rhodes-Vivour’s son Rotimi was said to have been kidnapped last September and was released after the payment of a ransom believed to run into millions of naira. What has the family done to be haunted by kidnappers? What do they want from this family? My appeal to the kidnappers is to let mother and child go today. Why hold the poor women hostage for this long? Let them go.

     

     

  • Let them not die in vain

    Let them not die in vain

    Hardly do Nigerians see eye to eye with the police. Even though police personnel are also Nigerians, they have cat -and-mouse relationship with their compatriots. Why? The public perceives the police as too highhanded and overbearing in their dealings with others. It is because of this perception that the police do not enjoy the people’s confidence. The lack of faith in the police has, however, not stopped the people from cohabiting with them. The relationship even goes beyond living together. In some cases, we are joined together in wedlock.

    No matter how we feel about the police, we cannot wish them away. We have since learnt to accommodate the police, warts and all. The police themselves, as if they know how the public perceives them, try to woo us with the slogan : ‘’The police is your friend’’, to which many respond cynically, ‘’with friends like the police who needs an enemy’’. But hate them or love them, we cannot do without the police. They are part of our lives. They are the ones that we run to in times of trouble.

    They are the ones who take on the dreaded armed robbers, kidnappers, terrorists and cultists on our behalf. In short, they are the ones, who keep watch over us when we sleep, though they are not God. We owe our lives to them. Where will society be if there are no policemen to do some of the dirty jobs many of us run away from. At times, we tend to forget that the police comprise men and women like us, that is, they are human beings and are also subject to the frailties and foibles of life. Yes, the police may overreach themselves, as they do on some occasions, in the discharge of their duties, but that does not make them the wild animals some of us take them to be.

    Like me, many Nigerians are likely to have something to say about how the police wronged them in the past, but have we ever paused to ask themselves this question : What if we were in their shoes; would we have done better? The police may have their shortcomings, no doubt, but they remain a product of the society. The society, they say, gets the police it deserves. I don’t agree with this statement though, because no matter how rotten a society may be, if it has God-fearing and conscientious people in the police, they can change things.

    What the police deserve is our pity and not vilification. This is why I am saddened by the murder of scores of policemen and State Security Service (SSS) operatives by members of the Ombatse Cult in Alakyo, Nasarawa State, last week. The police and SSS operatives went on their way to the cultists’ shrine when they were killed in an ambush. We don’t know the number of security operatives who were on the mission But 56 of them were said to have been killed. Scores are missing. All lovers of humanity should condemn this despicable act. If the police and SSS men could be this callously wasted, who is safe then?

    In these days of Boko Haram and kidnappings, the Ombatse group is adding to the nation’s woes by opening another theatre of crisis in the beleaguered North. Today, there is no peace in Bauchi, Borno, Yobe and other northeastern states because of the activities of Boko Haram. To add Nasarawa to the mix will be too much a burden for the nation to bear. But what all this shows is that we don’t have a government that takes the issue of security serious. If the government is serious about securing life and property, the Ombatse tragedy would have been nipped in the bud through intelligence gathering. What are our intelligence officers doing that they could not smoke out this group before now?

    The Ombatse cult, according to reports, had been forcing people to join the group and killing those who refused to do so in the past one or two years. Are the security agencies saying that they were not aware of the group’s sinister activities until now? They waited for too long to cut the group to size. See the price we are now paying for our tardiness – the murder of scores of policemen and SSS officials in the line of duty. The perpetrators of this mindless act must not be allowed to go scot-free. Anywhere they are on the surface of the earth, they must be fished out to face justice. Nothing should be spared in getting these killers who murdered people in the service of their country in cold blood.

    My heart goes out to the widows, children and other members of the families of these national heroes who died in the service of their fatherland. They deserve medals of honour because not many of us can sacrifice our lives the way they did. May their souls find rest in the bosom of the Lord.

     

    Will it work?

    I hung on every word of President Goodluck Jonathan during his Tuesday night’s broadcast. I wasn’t expecting him to wield the big stick as he read on and on until he got to the point where he said “by virtue” of the powers conferred upon me…. I held my breath because I knew what will follow next. He declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. Sincerely speaking, things have degenerated a lot in those states, especially Borno and Yobe, where Boko Haram seems to be everywhere, yet it cannot be stopped. Both states have become shadows of themselves because of the sect’s atrocious activities.

    Opinions will be divided on the propriety or otherwise of the president’s action. Is he right to have declared emergency rule in these states? In the next few days, analysts will be examining the rightness or not of his action. To say the truth, we got to this pass because of the Boko Haram people who have turned virtually all the states in the northeast to hell on earth. In the past four years, the sect has been killing, maiming and looting at will. To some, the emergency rule should have come earlier.

    But many are sympathetic to Boko Haram’s cause, so the government chose to tread with caution on the matter. Despite their sympathy for the group, the sect’s supporters refused to call it to order. All they were interested in was for the sect not to be touched. They seemed not to see anything wrong in its mindless killing and lately, kidnapping of people. When the sect kidnapped elder statesman Alhaji Shetima Ali Monguno a few weeka ago, it dawned on them that the group should no longer be pampered.

    If Boko Haram truly loves its supporters the way they seem to love the sect, it would have listened to them and embraced the olive branch waved by the government. The government resolved to grant the sect amnesty, yet it refused to eschew violence. It continued on its killing spree. Last week. it killed over 30 policemen and soldiers in Bama, Borno State. It has also owned up that its action led to the military invasion of Baga also in Borno State on April 16 and 17. All this point to the fact that the stage was ripe for the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno.

    But a state of emergency coming after the decision to grant Boko Haram amnesty? How do we reconcile that? Can you be hunting those you have decided to grant amnesty? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? Shouldn’t the government call off the amnesty deal and go all-out for these Boko Haram elements once and for all? Amnesty and emergency rule, the two don’t go together. Which do you vote for? As for me, my choice is clear as daylight.

     

  • From Baga to Bama

    From Baga to Bama

    We are talking of peace, but they seem more interested in violence. Everything is being done to make them toe the path of peace and reason, but the Boko Haram elements seem set in their ways. To make Boko Haram see reason, the Federal Government raised a committee to dialogue with the group. The panel has since started work, but Boko Haram has so far not taken its place at the roundtable.

    We are talking peace, they are beating the drums of war. Nobody knows what Boko Haram is up to. The group strikes at will, catching the security operatives unawares. Anywhere they strike, they leave sorrow, tears and blood. They have hit Bama in Borno State again. This is the second time in less than one week that they are invading the community, which first made the headlines when former Petroleum Minister Prof Tam David-West was jailed there in 1990.

    Bama is a far-flung place from other parts of the country. It is a border town close to Chad, Niger and the eastern part of Cameroon. It is 70 kilometres away from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Those who know also say that it is quite a distance from Baga, another border town which is about 180 kilometres from Maiduguri. Baga was the scene of a bloodbath last month which shook the nation to its foundation. We are still trying to unravel the circumstances that led to that dastardly act in which 185 persons were said to have been killed by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), only for Boko Haram to hit Bama in the wee hours of Tuesday.

    Boko Haram invaded Bama in a big way. No fewer than 500 members of the sect riding in 10 Toyota Hilux vehicles were said to have invaded the town, wreaking havoc on army and police barracks, the prison, where David-West was kept, the magistrate’s court, revenue office, primary healthcare centre, and the local government headquarters, among other places. No fewer than 55 persons were believed to have been killed.

    The group was also said to have set free over 100 inmates of Bama Prison. Was the invasion carried out to release the prisoners, some of who may be members of the sect? Why has the sect stepped up its operation at a time when the government is looking for a way to appease the group through amnesty? With the way things are now, those against the granting of amnesty to Boko Haram may have a point. Should the nation still be talking of giving the group amnesty when it seems to have shunned all entreaties to cease fire and embrace dialogue?

    Let us say the truth, Boko Haram has gone too far in killing, maiming and destroying public properties. It is acting as if it can match the government in combat. That is a fatal error of judgement. Nobody, no matter how powerful they think they are can match the government’s might. If the government decides to take on Boko Haram, the consequences will be disastrous as we saw in what happened in Baga last month. Many don’t want a repeat of the Baga massacre, that is why they have been prevailing on the government to take it easy with the group.

    But for how long will the government allow Boko Haram to run rings round the country as if it is law unto itself. The government has tolerated Boko Haram long enough and this is why the group seems to think it can do anything and get away with it. With its murderous actions, Boko Haram keeps on testing the government’s will, yet its sympathisers keep saying that the group should be handled with kid’s glove. The question those people should answer is that having applied the carrot without any meaningful result, shouldn’t the government adopt the stick?

    Because of the undue sympathy for Boko Haram’s cause (which many of us don’t know anyway), we have tied the government’s hand. The government cannot act decisively to stop the group’s menace in order not to be accused of highhandedness. But see the havoc that Boko Haram is causing with its ‘lowhandedness’. We just must put a stop to this madness one way or the other. We cannot allow Boko Haram to continue to enjoy a free rein of killing households and destroying public properties without making the group to account for its deeds.

    Boko Haram has been given an opportunity to come to the roundtable for talks. So, what else does it want? Is it that its grievances cannot be resolved by dialogue? No matter how difficult a problem is, it cannot be resolved through the use of a knife or a gun. It can only be resolved through dialogue and the earlier Boko Haram and its backers realise this, the better for them. Or else, they should be prepared to pay for their action, if not now, but certainly in future.

     

    Failure of leadership

    In every society, government provides infrastructure for the well-being of the people. Where the private sector and individuals come in, it is to complement the government’s efforts. This is why some companies and individuals build roads, power plants, state-of-the-art schools and hospitals to relieve government of the burden of being the sole provider of these facilities.

    That these organisations and individuals embark on these projects do not make it their responsibility. But what do we see these days? These groups and individuals are being saddled with this duty, which governments elsewhere discharge faithfully. Despite its enormous resources, our government is finding it difficult to carry out these simple tasks.

    Isn’t it a shame that the government cannot provide us good roads, potable water, hospitals, houses and schools? These are basic infrastructure essential to the day-to-day living of the people, which they are today paying through their noses to get because government has abdicated its responsibility to rich organisations and individuals. These corporate bodies and persons are making a kill from the provision of these facilities.

    In our respective homes, we provide our own power through generators and water through boreholes or wells, depending on the person’s resources. Yet, we say we have a government. Government, my foot. Can we say we have a government when we cannot feel its impact on our lives? Whether rich or poor, neither can say that they feel the impact of government except those fortunate to participate in the looting of our patrimony.

    Now, they are carrying their incompetence too far. Of the 1.7 million candidates for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), only 520,000 stand the chance of being admitted and this in a society, which is already grappling with the problem of graduate unemployment. What does the government want the over one million remaining students to do in a society which places so much emphasis on paper qualification?

    As a way out, Education Minister Prof Ruqayyat Ahmed Rufa’i is calling on the private sector to invest in education. She is not saying anything new. There are already so many private investors in education, not only at the tertiary level, but also at the primary and secondary school levels. We know how much they charge. The poor cannot afford to send their children to such schools. Mrs Minister, your suggestion cannot be the solution to the problem.

    The Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants, and other ethnic militias and kidnappers we have today are all the by-products of a decadent society occasioned by the failure of leadership. We will remain at these people’s mercy except the government devises an ingenious means of meeting the citizenry’s needs instead of always relying on the private sector. Why don’t we then privatise governance? Won’t that be the one-stop solution to all our problems?